The Roosters copped a couple of body blows when Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Joey Manu left to take up lucrative offers in rugby union.
And while both are great players and were drawcards for their club and the overall competition, it’s safe to say their absence has barely caused a ripple in the NRL talent pool such is the strength of its overall depth.
Now rugby league chief executives have the boogie-man in the form of former English rugby international Mike Tindall to fear.
With murky Saudi investment money ready to bankroll a global rebel rugby league (but not rugby league), the panic meter is being revved up to 11 in some quarters about a raid on NRL talent.
Warriors veteran Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Storm stars Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Ryan Papenhuyzen, along with Dragons forward Jaydn Su’A are names that have been mentioned in the short timeframe since R360 started getting media traction.
Even if these four all jumped ship, it would be a minor blip on the radar- RTS is well past his prime, Asofa-Solomona is a judiciary liability (suspended again on the weekend for two matches), and Papenhuyzen and Su’A are very good players but neither was able to crack their respective Origin teams this year.
The proposed breakaway rugby competition (for all positions, not just breakaways) plans to trot across the globe like the Formula 1 circuit.
It is at least 12 months away from getting up and running and has been compared to LIV Golf as a possible avenue for Saudi sportswashing to attract some of the best talent in the rugby codes with Godfather offers too good to refuse.
Since rugby union stumbled into the professional era three decades ago, league in Australia has had various incarnations of scaremongering that its dealt with or conjured up on its own from within.
After the Mat Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri defections (before they all eventually came back), there was the Andrew Johns will he or won’t he jump circus and then Mark Gasnier, Karmichael Hunt, Israel Folau and a few other elite players who followed suit, none of them for the long term.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s switch on a multimillion-dollar deal at the end of last year to become a Wallaby was great for rugby’s attempts to get more attention in Australia after falling well behind league, AFL and cricket on the national pecking order.
Joseph Suaalii and Joseph Manu. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
But as far as the damage it’s done to the NRL, it’s almost gone unnoticed such is the sport’s seemingly endless ability to regenerate its playing ranks with fresh blood.
It doesn’t happen by accident – the clubs, well most of them anyway – invest huge sums into developing their juniors and identifying blue-chip prospects from wherever football is played with an oval ball.
The 2025 crop has been one of the NRL’s best in recent years.
There are six or seven newbies who would be a worthwhile candidate to take home the Dally M Rookie of the Year award.
Warriors forward Leka Halasima grabbed the headlines with his spectacular try on the siren to knock the stuffing out of the Knights on Sunday.
It was no fluke – he has been causing havoc on the edge for the Warriors all season with eight tries to his name and because he only made four appearances when Andrew Webster blooded him late last season, he is still eligible for the Dally M gong.
Leka Halasima celebrates. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Robert Toia is another fresh face who is going gangbusters. The centre was plucked from the Roosters after only 10 NRL matches to make his Origin debut for Queensland and put in an impressive effort over the course of the series while marking up against Latrell Mitchell.
Roosters teammates Hugo Savala, Blake Steep and Salesi Foketi have also made grand entries to the NRL as Trent Robinson replenishes his roster after Suaalii and Manu were joined by Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Luke Keary and Sitili Tupouniua in exiting Sydney’s east.
The NRL Rookie Class of 2025
1 Isaiah Iongi (Eels)
2 Jordan Samrani (Eels)
3 Robert Toia (Roosters)
4 Joash Papalii (Eels)
5 Savelio Tamale (Raiders)
6 Jamie Humphreys (Rabbitohs)
7 Hugo Savala (Roosters)
8 Sam Tuivaiti (Eels)
9 Ryley Smith (Eels)
10 Blake Steep (Roosters)
11 Leka Halasima (Warriors)
12 Salesi Foketi (Roosters)
13 Hamish Stewart (Dragons)
14 Owen Pattie (Raiders)
15 Charlie Guymer (Eels)
16 Luron Patea (Panthers)
17 Dylan Egan (Dragons)
Others: Loko Pasifiki Tonga (Dragons), Lyhkan King-Togia (Dragons), Benaiah Ioelu (Roosters), Jack Todd (Bulldogs)
Isaiah Iongi is tackled. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
At the Eels, new coach Jason Ryles rolled the dice by showing captain Clint Gutherson the door and handing the No.1 jersey to Isaiah Iongi.
The young Queenslander has made every post a winner at the back and along with hooker Ryley Smith, forwards Sam Tuivaiti, Charlie Guymer and Kitione Kautoga, centre Jordan Samrani and five-eighth Joash Papalii, the Eels have the nucleus of a blue and golden generation coming through.
St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan is also fast-tracking rookies with Dylan Egan impressing before an ACL tear cut short his season while Hamish Stewart, Loko Pasifiki Tonga, Lyhkan King-Togia and Sione Finau have all given long-suffering fans plenty of reason for optimism.
Not that Rugby Australia officials will admit it, but they should be following the league example of ploughing as much money as possible into growing their junior base rather than throwing huge contracts at NRL talent.
There’s only so many league stars that you can afford to sign before the bank balance runs dry and even when you do, the NRL beast seems impervious to poaching raids anyway.
